Nureyev's last gift

Premier of La Scala Roberto Bolle danced at the Bolshoi

For both Roberto Bolle and Svetlana Zakharova, this “Giselle” is not a debut, although Bolle danced for the first time in Yuri Grigorovich’s version, and ballet dancers like to count the number of versions of the same performance in which they performed on different stages. So Bolle arrived at the Bolshoi in advance in order to have time to sew a local red leather jacket here, get used to the specifics of the production and remember the necessary support from Zakharova. Remember, because the last time the artists danced “Giselle” together was at La Scala, when they recorded the DVD of the same name.

Bolle is well known to our public. He came to St. Petersburg many times - he participated in the international Mariinsky festival and danced with the Covent Garden ballet company during the 2003 tour. He was also in Moscow with the La Scala theater - he danced Romeo with Alessandra Ferri. At a press conference at the Bolshoi, an incident arose - the translator did not hear Bolle’s words and informed the audience that in front of us was the man who last danced with Rudolf Nureyev. In fact, it was only about the fact that Nureyev saw little Roberto among the school students, gave him a role in the ballet “Mario and the Wizard” and thus prophesied a great future for him. All of Nureyev's prophecies tended to come true, among his pupils there were only stars - Sylvie Guillem, Nicolas Le Riche, Agnès Letestu, Manuel Legris. Roberto was the last of Nureyev's nominees, and today he is the first dancer in Italy.

However, Svetlana Zakharova dances with Bolle not only because he is the first, and certainly not because Nureyev once chose him. Zakharova does not like impromptu relationships associated with casual partnerships. And not only the position of the prima obliges her to always remain on top, which means to be confident in whoever gives you a hand and catches you in a jump. A good ballerina is one who is always in search of an ideal partner. Maya Plisetskaya was searching, Ulyana Lopatkina, Diana Vishneva, Darcey Bussell and Sylvie Guillem are searching. We can say that at the moment Zakharova has found her partners. In Moscow she dances with Andrei Uvarov, in Paris with Jean-Guillaume Bar, in Italy with Bolle. On Friday, at the Bolshoi Theater, our ballerina had a happy meeting with her Italian partner.

In the role of Albert, Bolle is good in all respects - tall, handsome, narcissistic, but not so much as to dispel the stereotype of the Italian as a passionate lover, beloved by the audience, and at the same time a reliable partner, lifting any girl to any height and being at the right moment at the right point stage. No one can play a tearful melodrama better than the Italians; even in the theater it is difficult to suspect them of insincerity. Bolle gesticulates passionately, sighs, rushes to Giselle, now with hugs, now with kisses, is angry at her coldness, is jealous of the first person he meets, almost grabs his sword, and when his character’s fiancee Bathilde appears, he shamelessly turns away from the one whom seemed to love it so much. And after another five minutes he is already desperately sobbing over the dead Giselle, folded into three deaths. It’s rare to see such a bright spectacle, and what’s more, with good dancing from premiers, at least at the Bolshoi.

The second act did not bring any discoveries, but guaranteed a high-quality, completely traditional continuation of the plot. Zakharova told the story of the transformation of a girl deceived by her lover into a jeep with divine arabesques, soft hands, silent jumps and the signature entrechat quatre in the middle. Bolle gave the ballerina freedom and confidence in the supports, danced his variation well and pleased the audience with a scattering of high entrechat sis (Western artists prefer this movement, when the dancer repeatedly and desperately takes off in place, the diagonal with the breeze familiar to our Alberts, when it’s as if the wind is carrying a count pleading for the mercy of the Lady Willis, across the entire scene).

The performance will be remembered for a long time not only for the performance of the famous couple, but also for the successful combination of soloists - in addition to Zakharova and Bolle, Maria Alexandrova flashed with excellent form, coordination and understanding of what she was doing in the role of Myrta, the mistress of the willies. And even the failed peasant pas de deux performed by Anastasia Stashkevich and Vyacheslav Lopatin did not spoil this “Giselle”. This pas de deux requires mastery of a neat French style of dance. There are no complaints about the girl here, but Lopatin has no time for style, he kicks his legs, jumps to the ceiling, shoots with splits, sweating and blushing with fury. Watching him is a real punishment, but, fortunately, the main characters quickly erase this misunderstanding from the audience’s memory.

Ekaterina BELYAEVA